In 1910, Stephen Wraysford is sent to Amiens. There he meets the unhappily married Isabelle Azaire and begins an all-consuming love affair.

Six years later, he returns to France as a soldier on the Western Front, where, in scenes of unprecedented horror, he struggles to find a reason to continue living.

Profoundly moving, ultimately transcendent, Birdsong has been a revelation to generations of readers.